True Patriotism

What It Is — and Isn’t [The Daily Reckoning] July 03, 2024 [WEBSITE]( | [UNSUBSCRIBE]( True Patriotism Annapolis, Maryland Editor’s note: Since tomorrow is the Fourth of July, it is a fine time to reflect on patriotism — what we believe it is — and what we believe it is not. So today, we republish our musings on the distinction between patriotism and nationalism. [Brian Maher] BRIAN MAHER Dear Reader, Here is the trouble with America’s jingos, warhawks, drum-beaters, glory hounds, world-improvers and idealists: They are not patriotic. A jolting, nearly scandalous claim, it is true. Do these Americans not cry tears red, white and blue? Do they not yell about American “greatness”... American “exceptionalism”... the “shining city” atop the hill? That and more they do, yes. Yet they are not patriotic. That is the controversial case we haul before the jury today. Yes, we are stepping away from our normal beat of manna and markets… and reflecting upon the virtue of patriotism. This, at a time when fists furl in the direction of China, Russia, Iran and other devils that menace the happiness of the United States. (We first doff our cap to the late writer Joseph Sobran, upon whose insights we rely today). Country or Empire Famed English writer G.K. Chesterton once denounced Rudyard Kipling’s “lack of patriotism.” The fellow’s lack of patriotism? What does Chesterton mean? Kipling was chief rah-rah man for the British Empire, its loudest bugler. English civilization overtopped all rival powers, he believed — as Everest overtops all rival peaks. And as was proper… Great Britain gave the law in all four corners of Earth. From Kipling’s story Regulus, citing Virgil’s Aeneid: “Roman! let this be your care, this your art; to rule over the nations and impose the ways of peace…” Substitute Britain for Rome, and you have Kipling. Why then did Chesterton deny his patriotism? The reason is subtle. Subtle — yet critical. “He Admires England, but He Does Not Love Her” Chesterton argued that Kipling admired England because she was powerful. He did not love her because she was England: He admires England, but he does not love her; for we admire things with reasons, but love them without reasons. He admires England because she is strong, not because she is English. Now Chesterton. He loved England as England. He loved its customs, its eccentricities, its people. Even — if you can believe it — its “food.” A man loves his mother. It is a wordless love, wide and deep. He requires no reason. He requires no justification. And as he loves his mother, so he loves his country. Be it China, be it Russia, be it Chile, be it Romania… it is all one. Sobran: Of course Chesterton was right. You love your country as you love your mother — simply because it is yours, not because of its superiority to others, particularly superiority of power. [< New Intel > Strange and Powerful AI Project Revealed]( Jim Rickards was recently passed some urgent new intelligence involving a $10 million A.I. project… That could have a massive and direct impact on your life. Everything you need to know is in this 2-minute AI briefing. [Click Here To Play His Urgent Message Now]( A Spacious Patriotism Does the other fellow believe his own mother towers 900 feet over all others? Well, friends, maybe he does believe it. But that in no way irritates, annoys or threatens the other fellow. No harm flows from it. After all... Adults allow children to cherish the fiction that reindeer fly and round men descend chimneys... A husband allows his wife to cherish the fiction that she is a superior cook or automobile operator… as a wife allows her husband to cherish the fiction that he is a skillful and formidable lover... or that his bald head is ennobling. These are benevolent fictions conducive to the domestic peace and happiness. In that spirit, the patriot’s attitude toward the foreigner is relaxed. It is accommodative. It is spacious. He understands this fellow’s affection for his country is essentially the affection for his mother. But a Kipling does not love his country as a man loves his mother. His country must show all others its dust. It must outrace them all, else he feels diminished. The Patriot Loves His Country Regardless The United States of America stables many such gentlemen. They are dizzied, wobbled, staggered by a higher American vision. Their eyes roll perpetually heavenward. To these fellows, America must always be up to something big in this world. She must be forever charging up San Juan Hill, going over the top, storming Omaha beach, bearing any burden, paying any price... She must be beating the Russians to the moon, beating the world at basketball, beating democracy into someone’s head. Tall deeds, some of these, and fantastic attainments. But would the patriot love America less if she fell short of the glory… if her history was a page mostly blank? He would not. It is — after all — his country. And he loves her as he loves his mother. But to that certain species of American, America must dazzle and glitter upon the world’s stage. She must be the “indispensable nation.” If not indispensable, then dispensable. If dispensable, then unworthy of his love. Hence his lack of patriotism. He is Kipling. The Difference Between the Patriot and the Nationalist Sobran takes their measure: Many Americans admire America for being strong, not for being American. For them America has to be “the greatest country on Earth” in order to be worthy of their devotion. If it were only the second greatest, or the 19th greatest, or, heaven forbid, “a third-rate power,” it would be virtually worthless… Maybe the poor Finns or Peruvians love their countries too, but heaven knows why — they have so little to be proud of, so few “reasons.” And so Sobran trains his cannons on the nationalist ideologue: The nationalist, who identifies America with abstractions like freedom and democracy, may think it’s precisely America’s mission to spread those abstractions around the world — to impose them by force, if necessary. In his mind, those abstractions are universal ideals... the world must be made “safe for democracy” by “a war to end all wars”... Any country that refuses to Americanize is “anti-American” — or a “rogue nation.” For the nationalist, war is a welcome opportunity to change the world. We might list some names in point. Yut our legal counsel is wagging his finger and shaking his head. [Warning: Could Massive Civil Unrest Come To U.S. Cities?]( [click here for more...]( The streets are mayhem… Everyday supplies at the grocery store are cleaned out… In the parking lot outside, you see a large guy yelling at an elderly man… The big guy has something in his hand, and rage in his eyes... Things look like they could get out of hand at any moment. Is this disturbing scenario set to play out in U.S. cities across the country? [Click Here For This Urgent Warning]( The patriot and the nationalist babble the same American tongue. The one is therefore mistaken for the other. Yet lean in. Listen closer. You will find they speak alien languages: Because the patriot and the nationalist often use the same words, they may not realize that they use those words in very different senses. The American patriot assumes that the nationalist loves this country with an affection like his own, failing to perceive that what the nationalist really loves is an abstraction — “national greatness,” or something like that. The American nationalist, on the other hand, is apt to be suspicious of the patriot, accusing him of insufficient zeal, or even “anti-Americanism.” A Patriotism of the Heart The patriotism Sobran hymns is a relaxed, natural, healthful patriotism. It is a patriotism of the heart. This patriotism flies no ideological flag, hauls no missionary cargo, steers by no heavenly star. It is the patriotism of the prairie, of the plain, of the lonely jackrabbit crossroad, of the greasy spoon, of the truckstop, of the front porch, of the pool hall... of Main Street. And his fellow countrymen? The patriot takes them as he finds them. Might they sometimes neglect to wash behind the ears? Might they mistake the salad fork for the dinner fork? Well, sometimes they may. But they are his countrymen… and it does not matter to him. The patriot allows himself to laugh — not at his fellow Americans — but with them. The nationalist, meantime, does not laugh. He hectors. He preaches. He scolds. “Patriotism Is Relaxed, Nationalism Is Rigid.” “Patriotism is relaxed,” as Sobran concludes. “Nationalism is rigid.” The relaxed patriot, the average American, the American who tends to his own business and sweeps his own stoop, the American who loves his country as he loves his mother — this fellow is all right. But the rigid American, the uber American, the zealous American, the American nationalist hot to put the world to rights — the American who admires America for her strength — but fails to love her as herself? This fellow... he’s all wrong. Regards, [Brian Maher] Brian Maher Managing Editor, The Daily Reckoning [feedback@dailyreckoning.com.](mailto:feedback@dailyreckoning.com) Editor’s note: [Please take a moment to review this message immediately…]( Because our No. 1 trader is going to blast out an email with a private access link to his inner circle… It involves an inner circle that is making money hand over fist from a strategy that has outperformed the S&P 500 23-1 since last May… A strategy our No. 1 trader invests his own money into. But if you want in, it’s important you [watch this video.]( We can confidently say [reviewing this is the single most important thing you can do today.]( This is the one piece of our business that could potentially change your life for good. [Click here now for details.]( Thank you for reading The Daily Reckoning! We greatly value your questions and comments. Please send all feedback to [feedback@dailyreckoning.com.](mailto:feedback@dailyreckoning.com) [Brian Maher] [Brian Maher]( is the Daily Reckoning's Managing Editor. Before signing on to Agora Financial, he was an independent researcher and writer who covered economics, politics and international affairs. His work has appeared in the Asia Times and other news outlets around the world. He holds a Master's degree in Defense & Strategic Studies. [Paradigm]( ☰ ⊗ [ARCHIVE]( [ABOUT]( [Contact Us]( © 2024 Paradigm Press, LLC. 1001 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. By submitting your email address, you consent to Paradigm Press, LLC. delivering daily email issues and advertisements. To end your The Daily Reckoning e-mail subscription and associated external offers sent from The Daily Reckoning, feel free to [click here.]( Please note: the mailbox associated with this email address is not monitored, so do not reply to this message. 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